By John Umeh
President Bola Tinubu has authorised the deployment of four ambassador-designates to some of Nigeria’s most strategic foreign missions, marking the first set of postings from the batch of envoys recently cleared by the Senate.
The decision was conveyed in a statement released on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the President approved the foreign assignments of Ambassador Ayodele Oke, Colonel Lateef Are, Ambassador Amin Dalhatu and former Kebbi State governor, Usman Isa Dakingari Suleiman.
Under the new postings, Ambassador Ayodele Oke will head Nigeria’s mission to France, while Colonel Lateef Are has been designated as ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Amin Dalhatu, who previously served as Nigeria’s envoy to South Korea, has been named high commissioner-designate to the United Kingdom.
Former Kebbi State governor, Usman Isa Dakingari Suleiman, was appointed ambassador-designate to Turkey.
Onanuga noted that the Turkish posting is particularly significant, coming ahead of a planned state visit by President Tinubu to Ankara in the coming days.
He added that the approvals have been formally transmitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with instructions to initiate the necessary diplomatic processes, including notifying the host countries in line with international protocol.
The four appointments were drawn from the list of ambassadorial nominees confirmed by the Senate in December 2025 following the screening exercise conducted by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
That confirmation exercise saw the upper chamber approve both career and non-career diplomats, including several former governors, ministers and senior public officials, all of whom were adjudged fit to represent Nigeria abroad.
The latest postings signal the commencement of the Tinubu administration’s broader diplomatic engagement strategy, with more ambassadorial deployments expected in the coming weeks.
